Sistani Wants Deep Un Involvement Al

Al-Sabah newspaper in Kuwait, quotes a statement put out by Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani on Monday.

DPA summarizes it: Sistani ‘ said the UN should play a central role in the transfer of power to the Iraqis’ and that he wanted the UN to “completely supervise the political process until Iraq reaches a continuous established situation . . . The UN has a great responsibility to the Iraqi people because it legitimised the occupation and gave it international coverage . . .”

The DPA translates the rest of the statement thusly: ‘ The important elements that should reign in Iraq, al-Sistani said, are pluralism, freedom of opinion, and justice and equality among citizens. “Most Muslim Iraqis will choose a system that respects the pillars of the Islamic law and respects the rights of minorities,” he said. ‘

But az-Zaman gives the Arabic text and this is what he actually said:

He stressed that it is important that the country be led by “democratic consultation, pluralism, and the peaceful transfer of sovereignty, in addition to justice and equality among the children of the country with regard to their rights and duties.” He added, “The majority of Iraqis is Muslim, and they will choose a system that respects the verities of Islamic canon law (sharia), along with protections for the rights of religious minorities.”

Note that the Arabic has nothing in it about fredom of opinion that I can see, and the last phrase about sharia or Islamic law is far more unequivocal than the DPA translation suggests.